The first rays of sunlight found Dikeledi already awake, fretting. She was some distance away from the others, needing the time to herself to think. Dikeledi and Bahari had always been there for each other, since the beginning. Neither of them had spent much time with hyena males, or indeed any other hyenas at all. Now … now they were stuck with two hyena males, and one terribly stupid lioness. Dikeledi almost felt that they had somehow acquired a family. A needy, whiny, bickering family that constantly irritated her and needed looking after.
It was enough to make a sensible hyena want to head for the hills. The pink-maned hyena shook her head in disgust. What a foolish trip! If she hadn’t already committed herself to this scheme, she would have been happy to back off and just leave. Leave the whole lot of them (with the exception of Bahari, of course).
Bahari had crept up on her sister while Dikeledi was thinking. The grey hyena was quite fond of her sister, of course, but the pink-maned hyena was prone to getting wound up. She jumped slightly when Bahari sat next to her, and then relaxed. Bahari chuckled. “Worryin’ again, sister?”
Dikeledi would have smacked one of the males silly for sneaking up on her like that, but she couldn’t be upset with Bahari for doing so. She blew out a sigh. “This trip is starting to seem stupid.”
The grey hyena nodded, staring off at the horizon. They had been traveling for quite some time now, and seemed no closer to their goal. It wasn’t as though the hyena sisters had been going anywhere in the first place, so really, they might as well head in this direction as any other. It was the presence of the strangers that was weighing on Dikeledi’s mind, Bahari could see that clear as day. “You don’t like havin’ the boys along?”
Dikeledi ‘s mouth twisted, half a sneer, half a wince. “I don’t know. I suppose I’m … used to them.” She sniffed. “I’m not as familiar with them as you seem to be, sister. I don’t know what you like about that pathetic Bekeli. Even the lioness has better grooming habits.”
Bahari took that in stride. “Well, he’s funny. Kinda pathetic, yeah, but I get a laugh out of him. He’s polite, too.” The cringing, groveling Bekeli was certainly polite. “Sudaj, he seems a little more uppity. A little sneaky, maybe.” Bahari wasn’t as concerned with manners as her sister, so she didn’t really mind Sudaj’s imperfections. She just found him slightly less agreeable than Bekeli. Less funny, too. Sudaj was apt to get hurt feelings and ruin the fun.
“I like Sudaj,” Dikeledi said. As she said it, she was slightly surprised to realize that she did like him. As much as Dikeledi could like him, that was. For all his uppityness, he was wittier than Bekeli, and that pleased her somewhat. A more interesting conversationalist, for what it was worth. And he didn’t stink, which was a definite plus.
“Sudaj likes you, too,” Bahari snickered.
Dikeledi rolled her eyes. “Have I told you what he said yesterday?”
Bahari leaned forward, eyes shining. “Did he confess his undyin’ love?”
“Ha! He said we should procreate. Make little lion-killing soldiers.”
“I hope you told him to go procreate his head.”
“I said he should start by procreating with Bekeli,” Dikeledi said smugly.
Bahari let out a roar of laughter. “Well. I bet you broke his poor little heart.”
Dikeledi shrugged. “Actually, I guess it’s not such a terrible idea. We do need more hyenas.” She cast a thoughtful look at her sister. “Maybe you should.”
“With Sudaj?” The usually self-assured Bahari was momentarily taken aback. Such a thought had never occurred to her. It was … strange. “I think I’d rather find some handsome rogue. I don’t know about Sudaj.”
“How about Bekeli then? You get along.”
“Good grief!” Bahari shook her head. This conversation was getting ludicrous, ludicrous enough to bring laughter from her once more. “He’s kinda funny, true, but I don’t pity him enough for that!”
“Oh, come on, he wouldn’t be that terrible as a father to some pups.”
“I don’t think he’d be that anything as a father. He’s a total pushover …” Bahari blinked and then narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I see.” Yes, that might not be such a terrible idea. For all his utter ineptitude, Bekeli would probably make a fine chew toy for a bunch of pups. He could surely keep them out of the way of the female hyenas while they went about their important business. That dopey lioness would be an adequate babysitter as well, she supposed. Sudaj? Who could say? His pathetic infatuation with Dikeledi would probably make him easily controllable, though.
Bahari cleared her throat. “Sister, if I do this, I’m not doin’ it alone. Fair’s fair.”
Dikeledi had hoped that Bahari wouldn’t demand such a thing, but she couldn’t say she hadn’t expected it. She wouldn’t try to argue her way out of it, either. Fair was fair, and if she asked Bahari to … procreate, then she would have to bite the bullet and do it herself. “Fine. Fair’s fair. But I’m not making a habit of this. It had better take the first time.”
“You’re tellin’ me,” Bahari said. The grey hyena squinted at her sister, thinking. This was a crazy plan, perhaps a gross one, but it WAS a good idea to bolster their numbers. Pups they could raise to their way of thinking … those would be great assets. Wimpy Bekeli was a perfect specimen of hyena manhood, Sudaj would most likely do as he was told, and that doofus of a lion would make a great punching bag for the pups as they matured. Really, who could have asked for a more ideal family situation? Bahari chuckled. “How did we talk ourselves into this?”
Dikeledi laughed as well, a rarity for her. “I’m not sure. Can we bash the males over the head afterwards so they don’t remember anything? I don’t want them getting ideas.”
“No, no, you want Sudaj to remember. That way he’ll be easier to push around.”
“What a good idea.”
